IN THE HEADLINES

LOS ANGELES - The case of an Algerian facing terrorism conspiracy charges is a story of "a tragedy averted," a federal prosecutor told a jury Tuesday.

The capture of Ahmed Ressam, 33, after he crossed the Canadian-U.S. border on Dec. 14, 1999, in a car carrying bomb-making materials prevented potential explosions at various sites on the West Coast, including Seattle's Space Needle, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Gonzalez said.

The bulk of the prosecutor's opening statement dealt with meticulous FBI work that pieced together a criminal case out of electronic components and chemicals found in a car that Ressam allegedly brought from British Columbia to Port Angeles.

* ADVERTISING IN SCHOOLS

Coke tones down pitch

The Coca Cola Co., under fire for contributing to skyrocketing obesity among school children, will announce a new policy today to aggressively discourage bottlers from making controversial exclusive arrangements with schools to promote the sale of soda.

The deals have been increasingly attacked for commercial-izing schools and putting the financial needs of districts ahead of the nutritional well-being of students. Several states are considering legislation to restrict the practice.

Acknowledging the growing criticism, Coca Cola president of North American Jeffrey Dunn said Tuesday that soft drink companies had become too aggressive in marketing soda to secondary school students.

Dunn said the company will now encourage its bottlers to avoid the contracts that spawned "cola wars" in school districts across the country. More than 200 schools and school districts nationwide have signed the deals in recent years, earning sometimes millions of dollars for using only Coke or only Pepsi products.

In return, the schools generally increased the number of vending machines and extended the times they were open for students - sometimes bending or breaking federal and state regulations.

* PLASTICS PLANT

Three die in Georgia blasts

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Two explosions and a fire rocked a plastics plant early Tuesday, killing three workers who were trying to repair a malfunctioning unit.

The explosions at the Amoco Polymers plant happened around 2:45 a.m. The unit involved, where metal fasteners are fashioned, had been shut down for repairs Monday night, said Pam Barbara, a plant manager.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze and reopened roads near the plant by the time workers began arriving for the morning shift. The company suspended production and called in counselors and a minister to help workers deal with the deaths.

"It's just awful," Barbara said. "We practice for this, but the gravity of it when it actually happens is tremendous."

The cause of the blasts was not immediately known.

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